Weekend Reviews : Pop : Gloria Trevi Struts Her Lack of Substance

When Gloria Trevi asks not to be compared to Madonna, she’s right: Trevi may be daring and flamboyant, but she’s not imaginative enough to be called the Mexican version of the Material Girl, and her Saturday concert at the Universal Amphitheatre should bury the myth forever.

Performing before a frenzied and eclectic crowd (there were children, teen-agers, parents and even grandparents), Trevi sang and danced provocatively--tempting men at various points in the show to climb onstage to be closer to the performer whose calendars are probably her only truly interesting feature.

It was Trevi’s familiar package of easy-to-digest rockers (including short segments of songs by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and even the Doors--poor Jim), crotch-grabbing antics and banal asides to the audience between the songs--all topped off with flashy, state-of-the-art lighting effects--that make you think she’s a bona-fide artist.

Trevi’s only reality, though, is that her underrated songwriting capabilities (some of her own tunes show a genuine feeling and craft) are wasted behind a hollow, sometimes tasteless presentation that makes her little more than a caricature.